Fence-joining tool.



No. 653,724 Patented July l7, I900. J. F. WOOD. I FENCE JOINING TOOL.

(Application filed m. as, 1900.

(No Model.)

UNIED STATES PATENT Erica.

JONATHAN FRANKLIN WOOD, OF OLARKSVILLE, TENNESSEE.

FENCE-JOINING TOOL.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 653,724, dated July 17, 1900. Application filed March 23, 1900. Serial No. 9,951. (No model.)

To ctZZ whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, JONATHAN FRANKLIN WOOD, a citizen of the United States, residing at Clarksville, in the county of Montgomery and State of Tennessee, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in VVireworkin g-Tools 5 and I d hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same.

This invention relates to improvements in wireworking-tools such as are employed in the construction of wire fences, trellis-work, and the like.

With the ordinary bending-tools or pliers the operation of fastening or engaging cross or tie wires to strands or runners in wire fences and the like is more or less tedious and ti rue-consuming, the engagement or fastening of a tie and strand at their intersection being usually efiected by bending or winding the one about the other, generally requiring the entire free length of the tie to be carried one or more times around the strand or runner at great inconvenience, while the appearance of the fastening thus produced is plain and inartificial, any ornamental loop or tie in the tie-wire being only the more tedious to construct or shape and impossible to reproduce uniformly at the several junctions or intersections, and, moreover, the stretching of the tie-wires being usually performed by hand on by means of a wire-stretcher, according to the judgment of the workman, it is difficult to render the different sections or portions of the ties between the strands equally taut, so that the strands are made crooked, spoiling the appearance of the whole work.

The object of my invention is to provide a simple and convenient wireworking-tool adapted not only to perform the functions of the ordinary pliers or other bending, twisting, or shaping tool, but also to fasten ties or staywires to strands or runners in fences, trelliswork, and the like with ease and despatch by forming loops in the engaging portions of the tie-wires and coiling or bending the same about the strands, thus avoiding the inconvenience of carrying the whole lengths of the former about the latter, in such a manner as to produce secure and ornamental fastenings of uniform appearance at the several points of intersection and engagement of the wires and at the same time to stretch the several sections of the ties between the strands equally taut without extra care on the part of the operator.

The invention will first be hereinafter more particularly described, with reference to the accompanying drawings, which form a part of this specification, and then pointed out in the claims at the end of this description.

In said drawings, in which similar parts are designated by like letters of reference, Figure 1 is a perspective View of a portion of a fence in which the fastenings or engagements of the tie-wires and strands have been effected by means of a device embodying my invention, the said device being also shown engaging the wires in the position assumed at the completion of one of the fastening or engaging coils, while in dotted lines is represented a blank of wire or tie bent or hooked over the uppermost strand, with the tool embracing the latter and about to engage the tie for the purpose of forming the looped portion therein, which constitutes the engaging coil for fastening the wires together; and Fig. 2 is an enlarged View in perspective of a wireworkingtool embodying my invention.

The letter A in the drawings denotes a pair of pliers or pincers, which may be of any preferred form or type and consists of the usual pivotally-attached members a and a, each of which constitutes a handle and a jaw. The pliers here shown are provided in the pivoted portion between the jaws and handles with a number of wire shears or cutters, which may consist of grooves 0r notches b b b in one member of the said pivoted portion adapted to register when the handles are separated with corresponding grooves or notches in the other member, so as to receive the wire when the handles and jaws are opened, said grooves being formed or provided with shearing or cutting edges to adapt them to 'cut the wire when the handles are closed or brought together in a well-known manner. Said registering grooves or pairs may be of different sizes to accommodate different sizes of wire.

A number of transverse recesses or openings c c are preferably formed between the jaws of the pliers or tool for receiving blanks or strands of wire without clamping the same when the jaws are shut, so that the instrument may be rotated or revolved about a strand as an axis for a purpose which will be hereinafter described, and said recesses, which may be of different sizes to hold or embrace wires of' difierent diameters, may be formed by transverse grooves or notches in the inner or biting face of one or both of the jaws, though preferably for the purpose mentioned by oppositely-disposed semicircular grooves in each of said members or jaws. One of said jaws or members is also provided with a hook or hooked projection d or other similar device designed when the instrument is being rotated about a strand in the operation of fastening the tie-wire to the strand to engage or catch the tie-wire and to form the loop in a portion thereof and the engaging or fastening coil, the said hook or projection 61 being preferably, though not necessarily, so

situated as to catch or engage the tie-wire.

when the instrument is rotated to the right of the same and toward the operator, as hereinafter-described.

While the handles, as well as the other parts of the tool, may be of any desired form, they are preferably made comparatively short to avoid catching in the wires of the fence or other work on which the device may be used and also to permit the same to be rotated conveniently about one strand or wire without obstruction from the other strands, though one of the handles, and preferably the one on that member which is provided with the hook (1, may be provided with a perpendicular or lateral extension or crank-like arm 6 on the side opposite the hook d, which will afford a more convenient handle for the workman and avoid knocking the hand or fingers against the tie-wires when using the device for forming the engaging loops or coils.

In orderto hold the handles and jaws closed together without effort or notice on the part of the operator, a link or clasp f may be pivoted or secured to the handle having the projection or arm 6, the other end of the link being adapted to pass over the end or extremity of the other handle or otherwise to engage the same, so as to hold the two mem-' bers a and a effectually together.

It will be apparent that the device described may be used for all the purposes of the ordinary pliers or wire Working and cutting tools, though the device is especially adapted for fastening together strands and tie or cross wires of fences, trellis-work, and the like securely and quickly in such a manner as to produce a fence of unique and ornamental design, as will appear from the following description.

The letter g represents a fence-post, to which are attached or strung such a number of runners or strands of wire 11 h if, 850., as may be required for the fence, with a number of stays or tie-wires 1 t secured thereto.

The said ties i i may be cut by the wire shears or cutters into proper lengths and, beginning preferably at the fence-post or to the left, connected or fastened to the strands h h in the following manner: A suitable length or portion of each tie may be bent or hooked over the topmost strand h, the shorter end of the tie being preferably on the side of the strand next the operator, and the remaining portion also lying on the same or front sides of the lower strands, as shown in dotted lines in Fig. 1. The pliers may then be made to embrace, in one of the recesses 0 between the jaws, the top strand h, and the jaws then locked together by slipping the link f over the extremity of the handle of the part a, the handle e being made to assume-araisedposition and the hook (1 brought or held in front of and about to engage the shorter endor portion of the tie a". The workman may then, while grasping both portions of the tie-wire in his left hand, rotate or partially rotate the tool by bringing the handleetoward himself, whereupon the hookd will catch or engage the shorter portion of. the said tie and form a loop therein, such as 70, as will be apparent, and by continuing the rotation inthe same direction the loop is may be wound or coiled one or more times about the strand, thus securely fastening the tie and strand together, after which the jaws may be opened and the tool disengaged from the wires. The operation may now be repeated at the second and; the remaining strands in the same manner, the operator in each instance grasping the tie firmly below the strand, the hook clengaging; the main portion of the tie 2 however, instead of a bent shorter portion thereof, as in the former instance. The looped portionk may of course be coiled a number of times about the strand, according to the fancy of the operator, and the loop finally disengaged from the tool and left either in an uprightora depending position, as at or respectively, thus producing a highly-ornamental as well as firm and effective fastening, which it is readily apparent may be exactly duplicated at the several junctions or intersections of the fence wires, and by arranging theloops of the successive strands alternatelyup and down the ornamental efiect of the design or work may be increased. The ties may also be fastened either perpendicularly or obliquely to the strands, according to the character of the design or work intended to be produced.

The length of the loops it will be determined, of course, by the distance between the recess cof the tool and the hook d, so that the instrument may be made, if desired, with long jaws having a number of such recesses at different distances from the hook d for-producing loops of different sizes.

In forming the looped portions of the blanks or tie-wires t' and coiling the same about the strands the resistance to the operation causes the stretching of the portion of the tieabovtr the strand to which the attachment is being made, and as the operation is the same at the several junctions or intersections of the wires the stretching of the difierent portions of the ties between the strands will be practically uniform. It will be apparent, therefore, that by one operation the workman may fasten the cross-wires together securely and in such manner as to produce uniform ornamental joints and also to stretch the several sections of the wire between the intersections equally taut.

The device, as will be seen, is simple in design and inexpensive in manufacture and may be used with ease and rapidity by any person of ordinary intelligence, no particular skill being required.

It will be understood, of course, that the device may be used in different ways and for other purposes than the one herein described, and also that the invention is susceptible of various changes in form without departing from the spirit of the invention, though the construction herein shown is convenient and practical. Thus the hook d, while preferably formed on one of the jaws, may be differently located, as Well as the recesses c c, and the handle 6 and hook 01 might be arranged oppositely to their disposition herein shown or on either of the members a and a, and any suitable device having the grooved jaws adapted to be brought and held together, as a wrench, might be used, with a hook suitably arranged with reference to the grooves.

Having thus fully described my invention, I declare that what I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent of the United States, is-

1. A tool for constructing wire fences and the like composed of line-wires or horizontal strands connected at intervals by stay-wires bent around the line-wires so as to form loops at the points of connection; the said tool comprising two members pivoted together intermediate their ends, each provided with a bandle and a jaw on opposite sides of the pivot; one of said handles having an angular extension forming a handle arranged at an angle.

to the main portion thereof, and said jaws having registering grooves or recesses in their confronting faces adapted to embrace the linewires, and a hook on one of the jaws adapted to engage the stay-wire and bend the same around the line-wire when the tool is rotated, and means for holding the jaws together, substantially as described.

2. A tool for constructing wire fences and for similar purposes, comprising two members pivoted together to provide a pair of jaws and handles on opposite sides of the pivot adapted to be brought together; said jaws having registering grooves or recesses in their confronting faces adapted to embrace a line-wire or strand so as to be rotatively supported thereon, and a simple hook-like projection on one of said jaws adapted to engage a stay-wire and bend the same around the line-wire forming a loop in the stay when the tool is revolved around the line wire, substantially as described.

3. A tool for constructing wire fences composed of line-wires or horizontal strands connected at intervals by stay-wires bent around the line-wires so as to form loops at the points of connection; said tool consisting of two members pivoted together intermediate their ends, each having a series of recesses or notches therein concentric with said pivot and having shearing or cutting edges; the notches on opposite portions being adapted to register only when the jaws are open or separated, and grooves in the confronting faces of said jaws adapted to register when the latter are closed; one of the jaws having a hook thereon beyond the plane of the registering grooves therein extending at an angle to said grooves, substantially as described.

4. A tool for constructing wire fences and the like composed of line-Wires or horizontal strands connected at intervals by stay-wires bent around the line-wires so as to form loops at the points of connection; said tool comprising two members each having a jaw and a handle and pivotally connected together intermediate their ends, said jaws having registering grooves in their confronting faces, and a simple hook or prong extending from one of said jaws at an angle to the grooves; one of said handles having an angular extension arranged at substantially right angles to the main portion; whereby the jaws of the tool are adapted to embrace a line-wire and be rotated thereon while the hook is in engagement with one of the stay-Wires for forming loops in the latter and bending it around the line-wire, substantially as described.

In testimony whereof I aiiix my signature in presence of two witnesses.

JONATHAN FRANKLIN WOOD.

Witnesses:

S. L. .ADWELL, J. O. MoREYNoLns. 

